Recent technological advancements have facilitated the detection of occupancy on human support surfaces such as beds, cushioned seats, and non-cushioned seats (e.g., chairs and sofas) via sensors placed directly above or below the support surface (e.g., cushion or mattress). More specifically, a binary occupancy sensor produces a distinct output when a support surface is either occupied or unoccupied. Beyond support surface detection, a broad application space exists for human-centric binary occupancy sensing, ranging from safety to wellness assessment. For example, bed and seat occupancy sensors can be utilized to measure and assess sedentary behavior (e.g., time spent in bed or seat) and fall risk (e.g., bed entries and exits, time spent away from bed, etc.). Occupancy can be measured with electrically conductive contacts (e.g., electrical contact created when occupied) or more complex sensing mechanics (e.g., resistive, load cell, pressure, etc.) filtered to produce binary output.
More complex sensing elements can also measure small variations in force applied to support surfaces and provide corresponding variable output. Such sensors are typically placed above the support surface and in direct contact with the sensed body. Combined with sophisticated signal filtering and processing, diverse applications of such force-sensitive sensors range from sleep quality measurement to detection of breathing rate and sleep apnea.